This blog is dedicated to sharing the concept that our hands are essential to learning- that we engage the world and its wonders, sensing and creating primarily through the agency of our hands. We abandon our children to education in boredom and intellectual escapism by failing to engage their hands in learning and making.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

more dinosaurs...

Today in the Clear Spring School wood shop, first, second and third grade students worked on more dinosaurs, as shown at left. We've saved the most difficult for last and will finish the dinosaur studies next week. I had a bit of a problem in class today with students wanting materials to take home and continue crafting objects on their own of their own design. I am so pleased that they have such enthusiasm, but we had to have a meeting at school to talk about it, as pieces of wood left on campus can be a hazard and distraction. Years ago when we started the Wisdom of the Hands program at Clear Spring School, we did not know that we would launch such enthusiastic making.

I managed to be on the Clear Spring School campus in time to observe a bit of what high school science teacher Pete Golden calls science on a shoestring. He and his chemistry class have been on a mission to melt lithium to form an ingot. It is a challenge because it burns in the presence of water vapor, or oxygen. In the photo below, they used a burning candle to remove oxygen from the air, and used a desiccant pack to remove water vapor from the jar. The magnifying glass is being used to focus the suns rays directly on the lithium film inside the aluminum lined crucible. While the experiment did not lead to successful results, it leads to enthusiastic successful learning. It is all part of what we do at Clear Spring School. Hands-on, hearts engaged is not just for the wood shop. Make, fix and create.

Tom Reed has made a youtube video tribute to Otto Salomon which you can see below:

About Me

I have been a self-employed woodworker in Eureka Springs, Arkansas since 1976. I live with my wife Jean on a wooded hillside overlooking our beautiful historic community.
In addition to work in my wood shop, I teach children at the Clear Spring School in a program called "The Wisdom of the Hands." My 10th book, Tiny Boxes by Taunton Press in November 2016. I also write for Fine Woodworking and other woodworking magazines.
My resume can be downloaded at
www.dougstowe.com/resume.doc